There Will Never Be Enough Evidence to Prove Jesus Is God

Initially, if you are a follower of Jesus, you may have pushed back when you read this title, because like me, you see that the evidence for the historical Jesus being God is overwhelming…the most critical of that evidence being that He continually called Himself God. So why the choice in title? Because reality is that though the evidence for Jesus being the living God and the only way to everlasting life is overwhelming, it won’t be the evidence that leads to a skeptics heart changing, and it won’t be the evidence that leads to saving faith.

Skeptics, doubters, and revilers of God are some of my favorite people, mostly because they are straight forward and more honest than the nominal Christian, or cultural Christian who say’s they believe in Jesus, but their lives do not match their words…and what I continually encounter is that no matter the level, depth, and breadth of historical, theological, and sociological evidence that I present for the person and work of Jesus as God, and THE WAY to eternal life, there is never enough to persuade or sway someone to believe and follow.

Lest you believe this is just opinion on my part, you can turn to John 6 in the scriptures and see the same thing. Jesus has just fed an estimated 20,000 people with a few fish and pieces of bread…and they had left overs. In verse 22 Jesus took off, and they followed Him still over to Capernaum. When they got there they began a discourse which ultimately leads them to ask Jesus, “What can we do to do the work of God,” in other words, how can we be good and do good things…and Jesus response is simple, believe in me,and that I have been sent from God. And what is their response to this, verse 30 records “So they said to him, Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?” In other words, show us something, and we will believe. Give us proof, give us evidence, do something to make us believe in You. Now here is the irony, by chapter 6 of John, Jesus had done many things to “show them something” including turning water into wine, prophesying, healing the sick, and feeding thousands with very little…they had seen all that would be necessary to believe that this Man who continues to say He is God, He is sent from heaven, He is the Son of God, is exactly who He says He is. Even in this discourse He is telling them that though they are looking for food to fill and immediate hunger, that He is the bread of eternal life, that if they would consume Him, or have their lives totally given over to His person and work, being indwelt by Him in every fiber of their being, they are overlooking what is right before their faces…though the evidence is stacked, the Messiah goes unseen.

The point is this, that evidence, proof, facts, history, will never be enough…they are empty vestiges without the work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart. Jesus says it clearly Himself in this same section of scripture in verse 44″No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Salvation is the work of God, and we have simply been invited to play a role in His redemptive work, through His gospel. Am I saying don’t defend, don’t present facts, don’t have long, 3+ hours conversations with people you love who are skeptics regarding the person and work of Jesus…absolutely not. What I am saying is remember always that these are simply tools God has given us to play a part in transforming work in His creation. They are useful, and should be practiced with skill and efficiency, presenting all evidence and facts, but always with the understanding that unless I pray that the Holy Spirit empower every word, and begins a work in this person’s heart, it will make no difference, because evidence is simply not enough…